Time dependence and optical quenching of photoluminescence in porous silicon

Abstract

We have investigated time dependence and light-induced quenching of photoluminescence (PL) in porous Si samples. After excitation with a N2 laser pulse, a shift of the maximum of the emission band from 630 to 680 nm within a time interval of 3≤t≤100 μs was observed. A consistent description of the PL data is obtained by using a model based on three different electron-hole recombination processes in the sample. Measurements of light-induced quenching of PL show great similarities with fatigue of photocurrent in illuminated hydrogenated amorphous silicon.